Saturday, 20 March 2010

Scruffy Ruffle Border Tutorial By Scrapdolly

I thought it would be fun to share how you can get really distressed and have great fun. Usually the two don’t go hand in hand. This time being distressed is definitely fun!

Making a scruffy, beaten up ruffled paper border and flower couldn’t be easier.

Cut yourself some strips of patterned paper roughly 1 ½ “ wide. You will need several of these and will need to join them together to make a long strip approximately 24”. I find it easier to join the strips before I start folding.

Fold the strip of paper in and out, forward and backwards so you are creating a sort of pleated effect. Crease each fold down really firmly so it holds. You are not looking for even folds. If this is a bit haphazard it will work better with the scruffy beaten up effect you are creating.

Once you are happy with the effect run the strip through a sewing machine to hold the pleats and folds in place with a line or two of stitching down the centre. Again, you are not looking for a perfectly straight line of stitching.

Once it is stitched it is time to beat it up a little. Crumple the whole strip up into a ball to soften the paper then unroll it again. Using your finger bend edges forward and backwards, creasing them in different directions. If you use a white cored paper such as the pink on the card it will look even more distressed and the white shows through.

Once you are happy with the look adhere it to the card or layout.

The flower is made of several different sized circles of paper, each crumpled, smoothed back out and either inked or sanded and then fixed with a brad through the centre.